politics anymore. that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomo night. meanwhile, add to what you see on the show. nds a stern warning. that psycho talking preacher in florida burns the koran, our troops will be in severe danger. but the troop-loving conservatives fueling this nation's islamophobia, they're nowhere to be found. their silence is absolutely

deafening and disgusting. and the top progressive group in this country calls rahm emanuel the cancer of the democratic party. the leader who said that joins me. plus jonathan alter predicts what's going to happen if rahm does bolt the white house. this story has had he fired up. president obama went to john boehner's backyard and stuck it to the tan man seven different times in his speech today. here's the president in cleveland. >> there were no new policies from mr. boehner. there were no new ideas. to most of you, i'll bet this just seems like common sense. but not to mr. boehner and his allies. when mr. boehner was here in cleveland, he attacked us for closing a few of these loopholes. mr. boehner and the republicans in congress said no to these projects. fought them tooth and nail. mr. boehner has so far said no. to infrastructure.

that's bad for america. so let me be clear to mr. boehner and everybody else. we should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. when these same republicans including mr. boehner were in charge, the number of earmarks and pet projects went up, not down. >> is that the president getting turbocharged? the president hammered boehner throughout the speech including this. when he laid out an incredible small business idea and proposal. >> i am proposing that all american businesses should be allowed to write off all the investment they do in 2011. and this will help small businesses upgrade their plants and equipment and will encourage large corporations to get off the sidelines and start putting their profits to work in places like cleveland and toledo and dayton. to most of you, i'll bet this

just seems like common sense. but not to mr. boehner and his allies. >> i think this is a defining moment right now. i don't know if the president really believes this. i kind of think he does. i've never heard anything like this before. did you hear what he said? the president just said that he wants to allow american businesses to write off all capital investment. that they do in 2011. the word "all" means 100%. now, this has got to be a test to see if the republicans really want to work with the white house in any way, shape or form. i mean, if you own a construction company and you buy a brand-new $100,000 payloader, you'll get a $100,000 tax writeoff on your taxes. the poen goes right to the bottom line. now, if you own a tanning salon in cincinnati, you could buy ten new tanning beds and write them all off. how can boehner and the republicans be against that? this is how the tan man

responded to the president's idea. he says, if the president is serious about finally focusing on jobs, a good start would be taking the advice of his recently departed budget director and freezing all tax rates. it always -- it always comes down to taxes and money with the republicans. when this president steps out and offers up something to small business, a 100% writeoff, they're against it because, you see, he's a black guy. he's in the white house. we don't appreciate him. we don't want him. he's not supposed to be there. this is all about power. this is not helping -- about helping small businesses in this country when it comes to the republicans. president obama isn't taking his direction from peter orzsag. the president is sticking to his gun and his campaign promise to end the tax cuts for the top two

2% in this country. >> let me be clear to mr. boehner and everybody else. we should not hold middle-class tax cuts hostage any longer. we are ready this week if they want to give tax cuts to every american making $250,000 or less. for any income over this amount, the tax rates would just go back to what they were under president clinton. >> now, this is where mitch mcconnell likes to get off into the weeds and tell you that there's going to be a tax on small businesses. not true. it's a lie. and it bothers me that nobody in the republican party, you know, stands right with mcdonneconneln he says this. it bothers me when nobody in the democratic party steps up and says, you know what? you're lying about that. the president of the united states is not going to raise taxes on small businesses. that's not going to happen. yet the republicans keep throwing it out there, and they seem to get away with it. i own a small business.

president obama is the most pro-middle-class, pro-small business president i've ever seen this country have in my lifetime. i'll give you my example. if my boys at schultz construction can get new equipment, guess what they could do? do more jobs, hire more people, make more money and we'd pay more taxes to increase the tax base. the republicans against that? employing people? i think that's a hell of a lot better than giving rupert murdoch and the wall street b e barons to feel better. it ain't about feeling good. it's about an opportunity. and when the president does it 100% -- 100% total writeoff on your taxes for capital improvements, where are the republicans? they're against it. now, my boys would love to go down to ohio and build a new tanning salon right next to the speaker wannabe's house. although the chain-smoking boehner told "good morning america" today that actually his

orange is a natural glow. >> i have to note that if you do win and you do become speaker, you'll probably have the deepest tan of any speaker in american history. and it's actually been a poll out in your state of ohio saying 30% of the voters think you spend too much time on your tan and 27% don't like it. is this something you have to overcome? >> well, they probably went there yesterday when i was out cutting my grass. when i was out riding my mountain buying, all right? >> so no worries there? >> thanks, george. >> i just don't understand mr. boehner. he actually would rather go on television in a very tough economy and humor people with his tan instead of focusing on creating jobs in this economy when the president of the united states just put a 100% tax writeoff on the table. he'd rather talk about himself. he'd rather humor the host. this is what the republicans are all about.

don't get hoodwinked. and let me ask all you voters out there tonight who are liberals and who voted for president obama. do you want to quit? do you want to be like sarah palin? she quit. she quit. did the state of alas lass change the gubernatorial term up there to two years up there because of sarah palin? no, it's a four-year job. see, their dna, they're self-centered. they care about themselves. they care about the people who are going to put them in office. and when this president, being so proactive and doing everything he possibly can to create jobs in this country, the leader of the republicans likes to go on tv and humor everybody about his tan instead of taking the serious approach. were those people in cleveland today, were they serious about jobs? this is what the president is pointing out. he goes to the backyard of the villain who really has the

political power to bring some republicans with him, to get some people hired in this country and turn this climate around and turn the economy in a direction where it needs to be. the president can only do so much. the obstructionists are on steroids. they are doing everything they possibly can. we're less than eight weeks from the election, and i hear that the enthusiasm for the republicans is really, really high. why? because boehner goes out and cuts the lawn and goes mountain biking? is that the answer that america's looking for because he's out on the golf course with the corporate boys shaking them down because the supreme court says they get as much money as they want? is this what we want in this country? and let me ask you again, liberals, do you want to be like sarah palin and not be enthused about the right direction for this country and you just want to quit? ask yourself tonight if you're a liberal. are you a quitter? quitters never win. and winners never quit. it's simple, but it works.

john boehner absolutely is licking his chops to become the next speaker of the house. and believe me, nothing will change. this president is telling the truth. this president is trying to connect and do something for the middle class in this country. that's the majority of americans. and where are the republicans in this economy? they're nowhere to be found. they only complain. and they only want power back. and they'll do it by fearmongering. i do believe that this psycho pastor down in florida, that all comes from the right wing rhetoric. and we'll get into that story later on in this program tonight. i want to bring in senator byron dorgan from north dakota who's leaving the senate and also after 40 years, after 40 years of public service has decided to go in a different direction. and i think, senator, you can speak with -- in very candid terms tonight, the climate, the political climate in this country, have you ever seen

anything like it weigeight weekt from a decision? >> i really haven't. i think the politics in this country is abysmal. we have responsibilities. and i'm a lot less interested in who wins the next election or the next two elections than i am about the economic fortunes of this country. you know, i've served in congress for a long while. i've never seen what i've seen recently in the united states senate and in the house. you know, these very same people in the minority party that caused the economic wreck and supported the policies that threw this country into the ditch and a lot of people out of work, their solution, let's do nothing. let's do nothing on every occasion. let's oppose everything this president proposes. boy, i mean, that's not standing up for this country's best interests in my judgment. >> is president obama good when it comes to trying to create jobs? is he sincere? do his proposals register with you? can you give him credit for what he has tried to do in dealing with these obstructionist elected officials on the right?

>> he has been under siege on every single proposal he's made. the fact is, you mentioned senator mcconnell and congressman boehner and others. their approach is to say let's do nothing. now, this president has proposed an economic recovery act. he's proposing now a series of things that represent incentives for businesses to invest and hire people. you know, a whole series of proposals. and my guess is when congress is back in session next week, he'll hear the same people oe the floor of the senate and the house saying these policies are awful. these policies won't work. it takes no talent to decide to do nothing. it takes no talent to have no new ideas. and i just think the country deserves better, and people expect more from not just democrats but especially the minority party who has blocked -- they would block a mother's day resolution if it were in front of the congress. >> they certainly would. i want to ask our audience tonight, get your cell phones out, folks. i want to know what you think about this. our text survey question tonight is, do you want president obama to get even tougher on boehner

and fellow republicans? text "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. we'll bring you results later on in the show. senator dorgan, should president obama keep up this torrid pace of politically attacking his opponents now that we're coming down the stretch? the other night we had chris van hollan on the air saying he wants the president to go turbo. >> you know what? i don't think he has any choice. you can't be involved in a great debate, in a very significant fight for this country's future and let the other side have all the ground. you've got to go out and stand your ground which is what the president did today in ohio. i mean, we've got to make the case to the american people that, look, what we inherited here from the previous administration -- and by the way, if you liked those eight years, to tell wall street and the top financial folks in the country, be involved in a speculative binge, an unbelievable cesspool of greed. if you like that, then go ahead and put the republicans ba being

back in place. if you really want to put this country back on track, the kind of circumstances where people work hard for a living, get up and decide they're going to work and make a paycheck and care for their families and the kinds of things that we expected in this country for many decades, if you believe in those policies that nurture the kinds of things we need to expand our country's future, then vote for the democrats and the policies. it's very simple to me. >> senator dorgan, thanks very much. coming up, this hate-filled pastor just doubled down on his burning a koran day planned for 9/11 putting our troops in even more danger. i can't believe the deafening silence out of the righties that always talk about how they love and support the troops. the maverick, what's the matter? cat got your tongue? and look out, one of the nuttiest tea partiers out this, rand paul, is gaining steam. his opponent is trying to derail his crazy train. and we'll be stopping by. talking to him. all that, plus o'reilly's backup is sucking up to a convicted

felon. palin's making up words and vitter's prostitution scandal gets reenacted. you're going to want to see it. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. s simponi™, and taken with methotrexate, it helps relieve the pain, stiffness, and swelling of ra with one dose a month. visit 4simponi.com to see if you qualify for a full year of cost support. simponi™ can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious and sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, cancer in children and adults, heart failure, nervous system disorders, liver or blood problems, and allergic reactions. before starting simponi™, your doctor should test you for tb and assess your risk of infections, including fungal infections and hepatitis b. ask your doctor if you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections, or develop symptoms such as fever, fatigue, cough, or sores. you should not start simponi™ if you have an infection.

[ female announcer ] ask your rheumatologist about simponi™. just one dose, once a month. up next, the republicans are using shameful scare tactics so they can repeal your health care coverage. greedy insurance companies are hiking rates and blaming president obama for it. it's typical. democrats need to call him out. we'll do it. katrina will deliver some straight talk when we come back on that issue. stay with us.

welcome back. and thanks for watching tonight. we knew it was going to happen. insurance companies are jacking up their rates, holding consumers hostage and, of course, telling them that health care reform is the big blame of it all. they're whining about having to cover people with preexisting conditions, claiming they're just passing the costs on to the consumers. hold it right there. look at the numbers. regents, blue cross/blue shield of oregon. they say they want to raise rates 17%. but only 3% is to pay for changes due to the health care reform. there's a 3% cost to them, but they're trying to pass it on, a 17% rate increase to the consumers. this is standard operating procedure. it just shows how dishonest and predatory this industry is. republicans are carrying the water for big insurance. they want americans to get hit with a double-digit rate increase right before the november elections. how convenient.

while they're screaming about repealing obama care. for more let's bring in katrina vanden huble, editor of "the nation." great to have you with us tonight. >> thank you, ed. >> thanks for coming back after a nice vacation. we all deserve that. we miss you. >> thank you. >> what is -- the battle lines are drawn here. and i want to say that i think the democrats were going to come out and go home in august and come back in september trying to, you know, make the claim that they've done great things, good provisions in this health care bill. now the story of rate increases. how should they play it? >> they should first point out in this landmark piece of legislation, health care legislation, however flawed and for the first time in modern american history, no republican signed on for this. there are protections against consumers. and 30 million people are going to get access and coverage, no longer preexisting conditions will be denied -- won't be denied coverage. but the main thing, ed, i think

is you've got to point out that the republicans have troyed too delay, dilute, obstruct health care reform. democrats need to campaign on what they're going to build on. and they also need to point out that you are witnessing the possibility of a rollback of the 20th century, 21st century, because you've got 14 states, governors -- i'm sorry, republican attorney general now trying to nullify this health care legislation. this is an effort funded by the billionaire brothers, americans for prosperity now, united patients now, and i think if we lose control of the congress, we are going to see more efforts to repeal and roll back the civilizing advances and reforms, not only health care legislation, but social security privatization, medicaid privatization, medicare privatization. they need to campaign on this as a choice election. you've talked about that very clearly. and for those progressives who are discouraged or feel appe

apathetic, to sit back will be the greatest gift to the right wing party. and, you know, obama, let him do his thing. we should be continuing to mobilize, but we need to do our thing, which is to continue to build on the reforms even if they're flawed but continue to build, and that is the history of social change legislation in this country. >> so how do liberals in this country answer the enthusiasm gap? they've got a lot to be proud of. i mean -- >> yeah. >> it wasn't a condition of 22-month support. nothing's going to get done in september and october. we know that. but it just seems to me that there is an enthusiasm gap. and firing up the base and getting people cranked up on the issues again should be a no-brainer for the democrats. >> you know, i think part of what president obama did was demobilize his base. we need to see more of the fighting obama that we've seen in these last few days speaking with passion and empathy for the economic pain and anger millions of americans feel around this country and beginning to lay out the infrastructure bank,

investments in this country. sure, we always want more. but let us mobilize to push for more. but he begins to speak to those concerns. i also think he should appoint elizabeth warren, head of the consumer protection financial agency this week because that is a fight you want to have to say, i am on the side of working people in this country who have more to gain if we move forward and far more to lose if we move backwards. >> you think he'll do it? >> i hope he does it soon because you want her by your side. that is an important both symbolic and policy gesture to counter those in the white house, so many progressives feel, have not been constructive in moving forward in a direction that will make this a rebuilding of america. >> katrina vanden hubl, editor of "the nation," great to have you back. thanks so much. inch coming up, former chief of staff and convicted felon popped up on o'reilly's show last night. bill's fill-in just drooled all over him. it was totally disgusting.

they're both in the zone next. stay with us.

and in "psycho talk," monica crowley filled in last night on fox. and she got to interview, i, her idol, warmongering/convicted felon scooter libby. she's such a huge fan. she's still bent out of shape after he lied to the fbi and grand jury about his role in outing cia agent valerie plame. >> that absurd political witch

hunt that you were subjected to during the valerie plame case. your sentence was commuted but you never did, in fact, get a pardon. are you still hopeful that eventually you might get a pardon? >> well, monica, i worked 13 years, maybe 12, something like that, for the federal government in national security. i learned two things from this. one is, the world's not just. and the second is, it doesn't do a lot of good to whine. >> you are a class act, scooter libby. and had monica crowley been president of the united states, you would have gotten that pardon. >> was that an announcement? the damon ka crowley gets elected president is the day i pack my bags and go to the lodge in canada and never return. monica, i know you're not real deep, but calling a convicted felon who outed a cia agent a class act is outrageous "psycho talk." coming up, a psycho church is stacking up the korans,

getting out the matches, and endangering american troops. so i want to know, where are all the right-wing talkers? their silence is unacceptable. i thought they supported the troops. eric byrnes, president of media matters, blasts off on that one coming up on "the battleground." george w. bush says this moment, having a shoe tossed at him, was the weirdest of his presidency. i'll walk you through some of my favorite low lights in the playbook. also, sarah palin, she makes the maverick's daughter cry. and rand paul's opponent is here tonight on "the ed show" ready to rip into rand paul. you're watching "the ed show" on msnbc. stay with us. ngivitis germs are left behind. a 30-second rinse with listerine® antiseptic cleans deeper. [ bomb! ] its unique penetrating formula destroys germs [ bomb! ] brushing leaves behind. [ exhales ] [ male announcer ] listerine®. clean deeper. get healthier™.

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welcome back to "the ed show." the battleground story tonight, islamophobia is out of control, and conservatives like newt and hannity who like to wrap themselves in the flag and talk about the troops are very interestingly silent on the issue.

despite pleas from top generals and politicians across the country, a radical right-wing pastor in florida is going ahead with the burn a koran day on the anniversary of 9/11. general ray odierno, the former top commander in iraq, said that it will lead to more violence against u.s. forces. >> what this does is this feeds right into what they want. they need off of hate and fear. and they will use this to generate more hate. and what that will turn into is potentially more violence against u.s. troops. >> so why are the conservatives quiet? general david petraeus, the top commander in afghanistan, agrees he told the associated press, images of the burning of a koran would undoubtedly be used by extremists in afghanistan and around the world to inflame public opinion and incite violence. yet the nut job pastor terry jones spoke out today, making a different case.

>> just yesterday we got a phone call from a retired special force green beret, delta force. it was his opinion that the people that are on the field, the special forces, he told us, are 100% behind us. >> where are the republicans speaking out against all of this? all this islamophobia started with the islamic center near ground zero. the conservative talkers fanned the flames on that story, and now silence. on top of that, mccain and kantor and the network across the street all said that in the past that we need to listen to general petraeus. for more, let me bring in eric byrnes, president of media matters for america. and we've got a developing situation here late this afternoon. we've got sarah palin tweeted about the koran-burning plan and

posted this quote on her facebook. book burning is antithetical to american ideals. people have a constitutional right to burn a koran if they want to, but doing so is insensitive and unnecessary provocation, much like building a mosque at ground zero. number one, sarah, where's the support for the troops after two generals have spoken out about this? you didn't mention anything about the troops. and besides that, i don't think she knows what antithetical means, nor do i think that she wrote all of that. anyway, eric byrnes, your thoughts on this response and this whole situation, about the silence of the conservative talkers of america and the pundits out there over on the other side of the street who are just supporting the troops all the time, but all of a sudden they're silent on this one? >> well, ed, you're absolutely right. the silence has been deaf. en deafening. boehner and glenn beck have made half-hearted comments asking this pastor not to burn the

koran but also an attempt to build a muslim, you know, education community center in lower manhattan. and those two things just are not the same. and i think we can all agree as americans that using religion to divide and scare americans using fear to divide americans is an abuse of religion. >> has fox been the mouthpiece for all of this, in your opinion? >> absolutely they have been. they've been running what i would call the republican summer of hate over at fox. they've been drumming up the fear and the vitriol against the muslim community for months over the project in manhattan. and it's just like what we saw during the health care debate where they drummed up the fear, and it led to violence. it led to violence against members of congress. now we've been seeing acts of violence against mosques around the country and a lot of hate speech against muslims. you know, it's something that this is what fox does. this is what the republicans are doing. they're looking for an enemy. >> this is what john boehner had

to say, speaking out on the pastor jones situation. here it is. >> general petraeus has spoken out against this, secretary clinton has spoken out against it. what is your message to pastor jones? >> to pastor jones and those who want to build the mosque, just because you have the right to do something in america does not mean it is the right thing to do. we're a nation of religious freedom. we're also a nation of tolerance. and i think in the name of tolerance, people ought to really think about the kind of actions they're taking. >> so you're telling him not to do it? so are you telling him not to do it? >> well, listen. i just think that it's not wise to do this. >> what do you make of that, eric? >> well, there was an awfully long pause there before, you know, minority leader boehner actually said, i think maybe they shouldn't do it. you know, but it gets back to your original point, ed. we have american troops in the

field fighting and dying as we are talking right now. and all of this fearmongering, this, you know, this islamic wave of hate that we've seen from the political right designed to score political points at the ballot box are actually endangering american lives. and i think, you know, it's important to remember the words of george w. bush in the dark days after 9/11, that it was important for americans not to do the easy thing and blame all muslims for the actions than just a few that we have a lot of -- millions of muslims living in this country who are patriotic americans. i think it's something that this crowd of republicans has clearly forgotten. and if they want to be taken seriously, if they want to be able to lead congress, they've got to demonstrate more backbone than that and certainly support our troops and not undermine our efforts to achieve some sort of victory in the middle east. >> eric, good to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. these stories tonight, the republicans' silence on the koran burning and these stories. sharon angle is refusing to

disavow the claim that there are domestic enemies in congress. and louisiana democrats are trying to air a new tv ad that takes aim at republican senator david vitter's serious sins and prostitution scandal. with us, todd webster, scott hammond, gentlemen, good to have you with us tonight. let's talk about this koran burning planned for 9/11. scott, where do conservatives stand on this? where do you stand on this? what should be done here? >> first of all, you know, i think the most dangerous place in america is between chuck schumer, jesse jackson, al sharpton and a camera. add this paster to the list. clearly a publicity hound, clearly a gadfly. i actually think silence is better here. i really think the idea of giving this guy more publicity, hearing whispers from the pentagon that general petraeus and others by raising this to a level that they have, i think it's better to ignore the guy,

to tell you the truth. >> the three people that you mentioned, have they, in your opinion, done anything as outlandish as to offer up to burn the koran? >> you could talk with some people about that. >> well, you're the one that said it. i'm talking to you about it. >> i'm not trying to associate them with the koran thing. i'm saying they're publicity hounds. they love the camera. so does this guy. why give him what he wants? >> he does have a congregation of only 50 people. but it seems that the conservatives don't seem to be denouncing him too much, after supporting the troops, saying they support the troops when general petraeus and others have said this puts our troops in danger. that's the hook, isn't it? >> ed, may i jump in here? >> go right ahead, todd. >> what i think you've got going on is selective concern for the welfare of our soldiers. you remember a few years ago it was cindy sheehan who held a protest against the iraq war and the reasons that we went in as we all know now were unfounded.

you had right wing talkers and politicians denouncing her about how she's giving aid and comfort to the enemy, she's endangering the troops, it's unpatriotic. now you have the general of central command who has come out and said doing this would, in fact, endanger the soldiers serving overseas. >> but hold on a second. to say nothing of other americans abroad who would be targeted or who could be targeted by this or other missionaries, western missionaries or american missionaries doing work abroad. it's unnecessarily inflaming this. and the silence from the right wing, the same folks that were beating up little cindy sheehan had nothing to say about this. >> scott, what's your response? >> i would just say i think in retrospect, giving this guy what he wants, more publicity, is not helping the troops. i'll put sean hannity's efforts against the troops up against anybody. you can pile on him all you

want, but he puts his money where his mouth is. >> now that you brought up hannity, there is question where all of the money goes from his freedom concerts. >> totally bogus. >> can you tell me how much he's raised? >> absolutely totally bogus. >> you want to bring your friend into it, that's fine. the fact is is that the man that you just mentioned is not supporting the general who says that our troops are in danger because of this guy. so why aren't the conservatives? why aren't you denouncing this guy? why aren't the 400 right-wing talkers across the country denouncing this guy? it's almost as if you folks love this islam phobia that's going on, scott. >> no. the reason is very simple. because the more you do that, the more the guy loves it. you're giving fuel to his fire. it's ridiculous. ignore him. >> he's not being ignored. the fact is he's not being ignored, and he's not being denounced. that's the point i'm making. todd webster, it is selective, as you say. let's move on to this story now.

tea party senate nominee sharon angle is refusing to disavow the claim that there are domestic enemies in the congress. todd, you've worked around the congress a long time. who are they? >> you know, it's more crazy talk coming from sharon angle out of nevada. i think she's the symptom of a much bigger story in this election about the number of flawed republican candidates who have been produced who are running on the ballot in america to linda mcmahon to steroid-enabling misogynists to jan brewer who may need to be economiced for mental competency to joe miller to rand paul. >> who are the domestic enemies, scott? >> first of all, call her senator sharon angle, and that gives you an idea even though you're sitting there mocking these people. >> who are the domestic enemies? >> and the domestic enemies, ed, to answer your question because i want to do that are everybody doing exactly what angle said which was, quote, certainly

people who pass these kinds of policies, obama care, cap and trade, stimulus bailout, they're certainly not friends of the free market system. so look the votes up, and there are your domestic enemies, ladies and gentlemen. >> domestic enemies, getting people health insurance, preexisting condition, that makes them a domestic enemy. okay. fellows, great to have you with us tonight. i appreciate your time. coming up, the door is open for rahm's run for mayor in chicago. here's my message, rahm, don't let the door hit you in the fanny on the way out. adam green and "newsweek's" jonathan alter getting into it next right here on "the playbook." stay with us.

it's not too late to let us know what you think. tonight's survey question is, do you want president obama to get even tougher on boehner and his fellow republicans? text "a" for yes, "b" for no to 622639. you have a softer bath tissue, you can enjoy going more... while still using less.

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in my "playbook," it's time

for rahm emanuel to go home. richard daly's not running again, and he's saying it's the job that he's always wanted. i think it's perfect timing. rahm's job in the white house has pretty much run its course. this is a guy who called liberals, quote, f'ing. they called rahm a cancer on the democratic party. now, i don't think that he can get out of washington fast enough. and this morning obama adviser david axelrod said the white house is prepared to fill his shoes. >> no one is in dispensable. and if that's the direction he decides to go, there are many here who are ready to fill in the breach. >> adam green, co-founder of the progressive change campaign committee and jonathan alter, msnbc political analyst and "newsweek" columnist joining us on this story tonight. adam green, you're adamant about

getting rahm emanuel out. why? >> well, this is a big moment for the democratic party. there are basically two schools of thought. among democrats. there's the bold progressive school of thought which says when the public is on your side, when democrats and independent voters overwhelmingly support a public option and taking on the insurance companies and taking on the wall street interests, you win. you fight and you win. that's the way you do things. and if joe lieberman stands in the way, you use the power of the bully pulpit against him until you win. the emanuel school of thought is different. they don't like to fight too much. they want to fight the insurance companies and joe liebermans of the world behind closed doors and say regardless of what the public thinks, what do i need for your vote and support? that's not a winning mentality. our message for democrats in 20101 look. for two years we follow the losing rahm emanuel school of thought which says don't fight, cave. look where it's gotten us. >> jonathan, your thoughts on this. >> yeah. no, rahm emanuel didn't get us

anything, only the most significant piece of social legislation in 45 years, since medicare and medicaid in 1965. look, you can blame rahm emanuel for his mouth. i'm not going to defend the stupid things that he's said. you could say that he's more moderate or conservative than progressive democrats might like. that's all fair comment. but to say that he didn't get it done is just inaccurate. you know, when i interviewed rahm emanuel for my book "the promise" last year on this very question that adam just addressed, he said, you know, we could do it the progressives way. we've only been trying that for 75 years and failed to get universal health coverage, which has been on the democrats' agenda since the time of franklin roosevelt. the only way, he argued, to get something done was to get buy-in from the interest groups.

you can say that's not pure, it's a sellout, all sorts of different ways to characterize it. but that's the way you get something done. there are now 30 million americans who are going to be insured, have health insurance, because of this. >> adam, what about that? >> look, i respect jonathan a lot. if he's on tv, i turn up the volume, but on this, he's a little bit wrong. look, in lieberman's home state, people won the public option by 3-1. in snowe's home state of maine, people won by 2-1. did we see barack obama do what we did today in cleveland where he went to their home states and used the bully pulpit to rally until they caved? no. he didn't even try. he didn't even mention the public option. look, jonathan, we don't mind if democrats fight and then have to compromise. but when they give up before fighting, that's a problem. >> that's an interesting tactical debate you can have. just on the joe lieberman question, i have a scene in the book where rahm emanuel is

really ticked at joe lieberman for backing off on the medicare expansion and torpedoing health care at the 11th hour. the guy was working day and night to get this done. >> jonathan, who -- >> to call him a cancer, it's pretty unfair to a guy who's been doing a lot of good, getting a lot of legislation through. >> some victories are better than others. just putting a "w" in the column is not a progressive victory. >> who should replace him as chief of staff? >> better than kill the bill. that was ridiculous. >> adam, who should replace him as chief of staff? >> i think we need a north dakotan. my first choice is you. but if you're not available -- >> not available. i've got too much fishing to do. what about it, jonathan? >> i do want to float one name, though. the guy who was on your show earlier today, byron dorgan. >> that's all i needed was a name. jonathan, your thoughts. >> well, i think i'm more interested in trying to get a sense of who it might be rather than my personal choice. the names i'm hearing are

valerie jarrett, ron kloehn, tom donnell. i think it might be one of those. >> gentlemen, thanks for joining us. got old "w" made a rare appearance in texas and said the weirdest moment of his presidency was when a pair of shoes was thrown at him when he was in iraq. he said, quote, it was like ted williams who said he could see the stitches on the baseball. it was coming at me in slow motion. well, george, this got us thinking about some other weird moments of your presidency that might top the shoes. how about the time you made an official visit to africa and you showed the world what happens when you put your dancing shoes on? actually, that was just -- this was hilarious when bush did this. i loved it. it's one of my favorite pieces of tape. or the time when he was representing the united states on a visit to mongolia. he couldn't find the right way out of the door. how about that? and then, of course, there's the time he called upon all the nations of the world to band together and stop those

terrorists killers. >> i call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorists killers. thank you. now watch this drive. >> nice drive, "w." maybe if you spent as much time running the country as you did golfing and fooling around, you might not be in the mess we're in right now. coming up, the tea party message might be working. this nut job rand paul is as extreme as it gets. and he may soon be a senator? this democrat, jack conway, is trying to stop him. he'll lay out the battle plan next on "the ed show." stay with us. aveeno has an oat formula, now proven to build a moisture reserve, so skin can replenish itself. that's healthy skin for life. only from aveeno.

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and finally tonight, the senate race, well, it's neck and neck. tea party nut job rand paul could actually be a senator. a poll just out shows rand paul and democratic opponent jack conway are deadlocked at 46. joining me now is kentucky's attorney general and the state's democratic nominee for senate, mr. conway. what do you make of the poll? good to have you with us. >> it's good to be with you this evening, ed. look, the race is a dead heat. i'm focused on putting kentucky first. i'm here fighting a bunch of special interest money that's come in through karl rove's american crossroads group. and we had a great internet fund-raising yesterday that raised about $300,000. so if your viewers want to help us, they can go to conwayfightfund.com and help us fight back some of this karl rove money. >> are you pushing back on some of the nutty things this guy says and some of the positions he's taken, especially like on

public education? >> oh, absolutely, absolutely. i mean, rand paul has policies that quite literally would hurt people. this election's about the people of kentucky and nothing else. and rand paul's policies would hurt people. how many people do we all know, ed, that if furthered their education on a pell grant? rand paul would want to do away with federal assistance for education. what would rand paul say to veterans coming home wounded from these two wars when he speaks out against the americans with disabilities act? >> are democrats in kentucky motivated? >> i think so, absolutely. they're motivated because i don't think rand paul gets to stay funding for addiction or treatment. >> jack conway, all the best to you.